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The Ultimate Guide to Getting Your Concrete Driveway Repaired

The concrete of your driveway has cracks. Despite its strength, a concrete driveway is not immune to cracks and imperfections. Therefore you may want to have a concrete driveway renovated and you may not know how to proceed.

It can thus happen where you’ll have to repair a damaged concrete driveway, if only to restore its initial appearance and to prevent it from deteriorating further. Do not panic, here is how to begin the work on the renovation of the concrete of your driveway. To guide you in the repair of the concrete, this article will explain to you all that there is to know on the subject. This will be the opportunity for you to discover how to repair concrete.

Repairing a Concrete Driveway

For starters, we will have to call in a specialist to diagnose your construction. The challenge is to determine the origin of the cracks and to find the most appropriate repair solution. Local professionals will give you a free estimate of your building site.

Once defects have been corrected and the flatness of the surface is restored, repair can be started. Whether you’re a handyman or a professional, just follow the rules of construction to successfully renovate the concrete. It is therefore necessary to correct the defects on the surface and to make it clean before beginning the work. It is perfectly possible to renovate a concrete driveway. In this case, the concrete driveway must be flat and clean.

Sometimes a professional craftsman identifies a superficial fissure with the naked eye. Different tests, such as mechanical drilling or coring, can also help identify problems. You will then demolish the damaged concrete, then clean the surface for repair.

For some damage, it will be necessary to envisage a repair of the concrete at depth, which treats both the concrete and the reinforcements. You may also consider applying a repair cement. You will also add to the finish a densifying sealer to harden and waterproof the surface.

You will install a self-leveling polymer cement whose thickness does not exceed 1 inch (25 mm), and which has the role of equalizing the appearance of the floor. In this case, to carry out the repair you can hire a grinder and a pressure washer. Grind the surface using a rotating plate and clean the surface with a pressure washer.

Depending on the severity of the cracks, you are often forced to redo the slab. If the cracks are deep, you will have to call a specialist. When the concrete on your driveway has cracks or holes, the fittings you want to make will depend on the size of the cracks. In this case, it is necessary to remove the crumbled concrete. Therefore, the first step is to remove the damaged concrete areas, usually with a hammer.

If your concrete is damaged, the simple application of a layer of acrylic-based polymer cement can strengthen it. You may also buy self-leveling concrete products to which you may add an epoxy coating containing solids that you will apply in two or three layers. Sometimes a crack in a concrete is not only due to time, but may reveal structural defects or structural hazards.

This is why it is recommended to regularly maintain concrete, so as to avoid degradation. If you are not a building professional yourself, consider contacting an expert. It is above all the cycles of freezing and thawing that will damage its structure, and can eventually cause cracks or degradations, which get worse with the years. First of all, we would like to remind you that a cracked concrete can be the sign of a poor structure or a concrete slab in poor condition.

Similarly, moisture will always have a negative impact on concrete, hence the need to always protect the exterior of your concrete with a coating or paint. This will prevent moisture from attacking the strength of your concrete. You will then have to cast a new concrete driveway, adapted to your structure (refractory concrete, self-placing concrete, self-leveling concrete, etc.). It is also always good to receive the advice of a professional, if only to be sure that it is a superficial fault.